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Resistance
Resistance is a combat statistic that mitigates incoming damage and effects from particular schools of magic. On the character page, resistance is shown for five schools, Fire, Frost, Arcane, Nature, and Shadow. Resistance can be obtained from magic buffs, potions, racial ability, certain class talents, but most often from gear. Resistance is usually a situational stat, and players usually store several sets of gear, one for each school of magic. Resistance is most frequently needed in PvE boss encounters, the first one of this type was Ragnaros, famous for the need for significant fire resistance. Some amount of resistance can also help in PvP if expecting to face spellcasters (although Resilience is generally considered to be a more useful stat in PvP than resistance). Generally though the best advice concerning resistance gear is not to wear it, unless it's obviously needed. Particularly low to medium amounts of resistance (below 150) are hardly ever useful - using resistance should be an all-out affair, either it's needed, and then high values should be used, or not. Spell resist mechanic Spells can be resisted in two different ways. The first chance for a spell to fail uses the level difference between the caster and the target, and also incorporates the spell hit rating stat. This is often referred to as the "chance to hit with spells." This first check is discussed in more detail in the article for spell hit. The second chance to resist takes into account the amount of resistance to the school of the spell. Each point of resistance effectively mitigates a certain percentage of magical damage, or reduces the chance for a magical debuff to take effect. The percentage per point of resistance depends on the level of the caster. A certain amount of resistance mitigates more damage against a lower level caster than against a higher level caster. For spells that only do a direct amount of damage, such as Fireball or Shadow Bolt, partial resists can occur. The spell has a chance to be resisted by 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%. For spells that do damage and have some other effect, such as Frostbolt which has a snare, and also for debuff type spells with no damage at all (e.g. Vampiric Embrace), the spell is either resisted fully or not at all. These spells are also called "binary" spells, because there are only two possible outcomes. For the direct damage and binary cases, the same amount of resistance averages out to the same amount of damage (or effects) avoided over a long period of time. Resistance effects are capped at 75%, that is 25% of all damage and effects always take place, regardless of the amount of resistance in effect. This directly translates to an effective resistance value cap, which depends on the level of the attacker. Formulas Here's the formula which yields the effective resistance value of the target: effective resistance value = Rb + max((Lt - Lc) * 5, 0) - min(P, Rb) Rb - target base resistance (as advertised on the character sheet) Lt - target level Lc - caster level P - caster spell penetration In PvE boss fights, the target level is usually equal to or less than the caster level (when the boss attacks a player), and no spell penetration is in effect. Therefore it's generally safe to assume that the effective resistance is the same as the base resistance in this situation. The percentage of magical damage that is effectively mitigated is calculated by the following equation: Damage reduction = (effective resistance value / (caster level * 5)) * 0.75 The result of this second formula is capped at 0.75, thus an effective resistance value greater than caster level * 5 is pointless. For PvE boss fights, this means a resistance score of more than 365 points is never useful. Partial resists and examples Despite the actual percentage of damage mitigated, direct damage spells have a chance to be partially resisted by 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100%. Averaged over time, the partial resists reflect the equations given above. The following table gives the chance for various partial resist outcomes given several resistance examples.Table adapted from Blizzard's example at Resistances Resistance caps Resistance caps at 75% magical damage reduced. From the equations above, it follows that the most resistance that is effective is 5 * level of the attacker. For PvE raid situations, bosses in end-game raids are effectively 3 levels higher than you, or level 73. This makes the effective resistance cap in end-game raids 365. For PvP situations, the resistance cap depends on the level of the opponents. For level 70 opponents, this cap is 350. Sources Resistance comes from various sources. The most common is resistance equipment, which are equippable items that have resistance on them. Many uncommon-quality items that carry random enchantments can possible have resistance to one school of magic. Other sources of resistance include talents, buffs, potions, enchants, and racial bonuses. Most races have a passive resistance to one school of magic. Stacking Resistances are generally very limited in how they stack. The following sources of resistance are all independent, but whether they stack within each category depends on the category: * Equipped items and enchants all stack. * Elixirs that provide resistance are guardian elixirs, and only one may take effect at a time. Note that Flask of Chromatic Resistance and Flask of Chromatic Wonder count as both a battle and a guardian elixir. * Auras, totems, and buffs all overlap - the maximum applies. * Self buffs, such as Demon Armor or Mage Armor. * Racial bonuses. For example: A hunter using Aspect of the Wild with +70 nature resist makes any other auras in the group useless (unless the hunter dies). It will however fully stack with equipment bonuses as well as a racial bonus (Night Elf and Tauren in the case of NR) and a guardian elixir. Some buffs do actually work with others. For example, the Warlock's Demon Armor does stack with other buffs such as the Priest's Shadow Protection. See also *Resistance equipment *Spell penetration *Spell hit References External links * Blizzard Resistances Page * Characters page at Worldof War.net Category:Attributes Category:Combat Category:Game Terms Category:Gameplay Category:Magic Schools Category:Resistances